issue within psychology Flashcards
-define the term ‘bias’
a person’s views are distorded in some way
what are the different types of Gender bias
- Alpha bias
- Beta bias
- androcentrism
describe ‘universality and bias’
- bias undermines psychology’s universality
- conclusions cant be applied to everyone
describe ‘Alpha bias”
- exaggerate the differences between males and females
-eg= Freud, Bowlby
describe the term ‘beta bias’
- ignores the differences between males and females
- assume results can be applied equally to men and women
-eg = Milgram, zimbardo
describe the term ‘androcentrism’
- being centered on/dominated by the male viewpoint
- can be conscious and unconscious
-eg = Zimbardo, Milgram, Asch
what are some overall A03 points of Gender bias
-MAY PROMOTE GENDER STEREOTYPES❌
- Maccoby and jacklin
-ALPHA BIAS DEVALUES WOMEN❌
- Walkerdine –> women may be held back
-WAYS TO AVOID IT✅
- eagly
-NOT INEVITABLE
- Worrel and Remer –> research criteria
describe the A03 point of Gender bias regarding Gender stereotypes
- Maccoby and Jacklin found girls had better verbal ability and boys had better spatial ability
–> these were then seen as facts - Daphna Joel then used brain scanning and found no difference in structure between boys and girls’ brains
- some research may be stereotypes rather than biological facts
describe an A03 point of Gender bias regarding hindering opportunities for women
- many gender differences are based on ‘essentialist’ perspective; the idea that gender differences are fixed
- Walkerdine reports how 1930’s ‘scientific’ research said intellectual activities (eg. uni) would shrivel ovaries and hafrm chances of giving birth
- Alpha bias is often politically motivated
- women may be held back
describe an A03 point of Gender bias regarding it not being inevitable
- Worrel and Remer put forward criteria that should be adhered to
- women should be studied withing meaningful real life contexts rather than objects of study
- diversity should be examined rather than men v women
- this criteria may help avoid putting women in disadvantage compared to traditional experiments with bias male researcher
describe an A03 point of Gender bias regarding how to further avoid bias
- take feminist approach that attempts to restore imbalance in psychology
- eg, feminist psychology accepts biological differences between men and women
- Eagly claims women are less affective leaders than men
- however, purpose of this research was to develop training programmes to increase number of female leaders
define culture bias
- tendancy to judge people in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions
describe cultural alpha bias
theory assumes that cultural groups are profoundly different
- recognition of these differences must always inform psychological research and understanding
describe cultural beta bias
when real cultural differences are ignored or minimalised
- all ppl assumed to be the same
- results in universal research conclusions that mistakenly assume all cultures are identical
describe cultural relativism
insists that behaviour can only be properly understood if the cultural context is taken into consideration
give an example of cultural relativism
- meaning of intelligence is different in every culture
- Sternberg pointed out that coordination skills that may be essential to life in some cultures (shooting bow and arrow) may be irrelevant to ‘developed’ cultures
describe ethnocentrism
- seeing the world only from one’s own cultural perspective
- believing that this perspective is normal and correct
- often a lack of awareness
give an example of ethnocentrism
- definitions of abnormality vary from culture to culture
- Rack claims that African-caribbeans are sometimes diagnosed as ‘mentally ill’ based on behaviour that is normal in their subculture
- this is due to ignorance of subcultures from white psychiatrists
what are the different types of cultural bias
- cultural relativism
- ethnocentrism
what are some overall A03 points of cultural bias
- NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES❌
–> army IQ test - RECOGNISE WHEN IS OCCURS✅
–> Smith and Bond; European textbooks - LESS OF AN ISSUE NOWADAYS✅
–> Takano and Osaka = no distinction between individualism and collectivism - PSYCHOLOGISTS’ INCREASED UNDERSTANDING
–> indigenous psychologies
describe an A03 point of culture bias regarding consequences
- US army used IQ test before WW1 that was culturally biased toward white majority
- test showed african-americans at bottom of IQ scale which had a negative effect on attitudes towards this group
- culturally bias can disadvantage and amplify damaging stereotypes
describe an A03 point of culture bias regarding the ability to deal with it
- to deal with it you must recognise it
- Smith and Bond found that in the 1998 survey of European textbooks on social psychology, 66% of studies were American, 32% European and only 2% from the rest of the world
- psychological research is unrepresentative and can be improved by selecting different cultural groups to study
describe an A03 point of culture bias regarding it being less of an issue nowadays
- individualist research is associated with western cultures valuing freedom/independence
- collectivist cultures are said to emphasise interdependence and needs of group
- however, globalisation has decreased this difference
- Takano and Osaka found that 14/15 studies comparing USA and Japan found no difference
describe an A03 point of culture bias regarding psychologists’ increased understanding
- international conferences exchange ideas between psychologists which reduces ethnocentrism
- heightened awareness led to development of ‘indigenous psychologies’; theories drawing on the experiences of people in different cultures
EXAMPLE: Afrocentrism
-movement that suggested that because all black ppl have roots in Africa, they must recognise africant context - this is an example of ‘emic’ approach which emphasises uniqueness of cultures
describe ethical implications
- implications are affects or consequences
- ethical implications refer to other people- not just the participants, and psychologists should consider the implications of their findings in wider context
give an example of a research study having ethical implications
milgram- pps left believing they had blindly obeyed authority to point of killing someone
give an example of a theory with ethical implications
bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation - mums feel responsible for leaving children for careers/responsabilities
describe socially sensitive research
studies w/ potential consequence for participants involved or class of individuals represented by research
- socially sensitive research often confronts taboo topics such as race, sexuality
what are the 4 aspects in the scientific research process that raise ethical implications in socially sensitive research identified by Sieber and Stanley?
1) the research in question - must consider their research question carefully
2) the method used - consider treatment/confidentiality of pps
3) institutional context - must be mindful of how data will be used
4) interpretation and application - consider how findings will be applied in real world
what are some overall A03 points of ethical implications
- ETHICS COMMITEE MAY NOT APPROVE –> psychologists wont know value until after
- LEAD TO DISCRIMINATION
–> social control; negative impact - SOCIALLY SENSITIVE DOESNT ALWAYS MEAN CONTROVERSIAL
–> eg eyewitness; can lead to relationship with legal profession - SOME SAY WE SHOULD AVOID SS TOPICS –> engage w/ policy makers after results
describe an A03 point of
